Swag

This was in the half marathon swag. A snack of tuna that was last night's entree, a small hand towel that will prove useful for sweat during spinning and a sample magazine that includes an article on hip stability. Along with my lazy ass, I also have weak hips. I have been doing single leg squats a few times a week for the last few weeks. I certainly notice when I've been doing them - hello! training effect, but as the article suggests because I can't do them without my leg wobbling everywhere I've got a little way to go. It also suggested to add other exercises which I plan to do.

I've pulled up ok from the half. My quads are a little sore, but nothing too major. I may have done myself a disservice in the ITB department. My left ITB at the hip is somewhat painful. Thankfully I have a massage tomorrow!

I'm not entirely sure what event is on the cards next. I'm looking closely at a recreational ride in mid November and then potentially the Sprint triathlon series. I also, along with 3 other friends put my name in the hat for next years Berlin Marathon! Eeep!

Until decisions are made there's yoga and swimming on the cards for some active recovery. The plan is also to start running again later in the week, but I'm on the search for a beginner's speed plan!

Yoga: 1hr | Simply flow

Stick o' pain

But good pain! Why oh why has it taken me this long (an estimated 8 years) to get a foam roller? Truth be told my massage therapist and several physios have being suggesting I get one for my ITB for quite some time, but I never got around to it. This year is the first time I've ever used one and oh, I love it. It makes for some good therapy when I can't make it in for a massage.

I've been avoiding running this week. My left hip/ITB is causing me a little grief, even on the bike the other night I could feel it. I'm hesitant to run (a) because I haven't run in a week and I know it will be hard and (b) the ITB flare up. I'll try a run over the weekend.

Swim: 42:28 | 2km | 2:07/100m. 200 warm up. 800, 2x 500. I could feel yesterday's strength session.

Wed; strength: 30m. Mainly abs & upper body.

Tues; bike trainer: 30 mins. I just did my thing on the bike for half an hour, gradually raising HR until I'm ready to get out of the saddle. It was a bit of a sweat fest, but the boys at work told me the next day they were impressed with my calves!

Melbourne Marathon

I didn't get to run, my ITB injury put paid to that idea. Instead it was all about supporting. I rode to the start line and then around the course with M, to support P. A few people had the same idea, and good to see that the Melbourne bike share got a fair bit of use.

For the most part the weather behaved, I was a little worried for the runners when woken at 5:30am by belting rain but it passed over and apart from a light sprinkle it was clear, if not a little windy.

Our plan of attack was to ride to certain sections of the course to cheer. We had a trusty cow bell that actually garnered many cheers and thanks from the runners. A couple of times P spotted us first because we were making a small racket. Incidentally I overheard a runner remarking that Melbournians don't know how to cheer a marathon, but I can tell you there was a small group of supporters giving it their all at Domain interchange (where the barricades are in the top photo).

Sadly the finish line was a disappointment. At the same time the sub 3 hour marathoners were finishing, so were the sub 2 hour half marathoners. Because of the volume of people we missed P cross the line for 2:53:30*. This is where Gold Coast gets it really right. The 21km starts an hour before the 42km, so there's almost no overlap. Something to think about for MM 2012?

*That's an instant qualifying time for the NYC marathon. So excited for him!!

Sun; swim: 36m | 1700m | 2:07/100m. I was tired after the early start. There's no way I would have swum if it wasn't for the fact that I'd arranged to meet J at the pool. Not an awesome swim, but I'll take it.

Adjusting

We caught Gotye on Sunday night. A gig finally (that's another thing off the list) a thoroughly entertaining one at that. But it was late, and combined with daylight savings, mornings have been a little slow to start this week. It doesn't help that it's dark now when the alarm goes off. I am much better at getting up when it's light! I just love those weeks prior to daylight saving.

Run: 17:15 | 3.1km | 5:34/km. River run, pain free! Winning! Didn't really want to run two days in a row, but the weather looks like it's going to turn, so I made the most of it.

Tues; run: 17:54 | 3.24km | 5:31/km. River run. Slight aching in the knee, but all in all feeling better than Sunday.

Tues; beep test: Level 6.5.

Weekend snapshot

My weekend started Friday with a glorious swim, a much needed ITB massage and a cortisone injection in my knee, resulting in plenty of pain during the Hawthorn vs Collingwood preliminary final at the 'G.

However Saturday I woke up pain free and was able to enjoy our impromptu weekend away in Daylesford, complete with lunch at the Lake House.

And today I ran for the first time in 12 days. I've been continuing my hip and glute exercises, stretching, taking anti-inflamms. I felt like it was time. And so I ran, pain free. The cortisone? The rest? Who knows. But a beep test was done and while the results were less than impressive, I was able to run!! And return to kickboxing. Happy times.

Fri; swim: 43m | 2000m | 2:09/100m. Alternating pull buoy and freestyle. No knee issues at all.

Beep test: Level 5.5. Not overly impressive, definitely need ventolin prior.
Kickboxing: 30m. I sat out a lot of the running elements, not wanting to push my luck. No pain, but iced the knee afterward just in case.

An artist's impression

The pain in my knee didn't let up Wednesday, so I made an appointment at the physio. Iliotibial band syndrome resulting in lateral knee pain. Gah! It didn't even cross my mind it could be ITB related, I've hardly been racking up the kilometres in the last month.

I am so lucky that I was able to run Gold Coast Marathon injury free, but the impending Melbourne Marathon isn't looking so good. More importantly I need to be able to run the beep test in the next month or so, as a result I'm doing everything I can to help my situation out.

Until next Wednesday when I see the physio again I can't run, cycle or walk too far. Which pretty much leaves swimming as my only cardio option. Hip strengthening exercises are a must and any upper body strength is allowed. Bless my physio, I love how he draws my exercises!

At rest my knee feels fine, if I take an anti-inflammatory with breakfast I usually won't have any pain until late afternoon. And it's not debilitating pain, just a little achy. So the rest is definitely helping, but I can't help but feel lazy.

Fri; swim: 43:30 | 2000m | 2:10/100m. A pull buoy swim. No kicking at this stage. 2x 500m and 1x 1000m. I had the lane to myself, it was bliss.

Little list

Good things:
• Another year older and a perfect low key weekend spent celebrating with family & friends.
• New graffiti on my river run
• Ebay. Someone is paying me to take away our ugly dining setting!
• Further progression on job application, references are being checked.
• So very close to a newly plastered ceiling

Not so good things
• Motivation for marathon at low point
• Dodgy knee
• Likelihood that this weekend will be spent painting said ceiling

Run: 1:38:48 | 15.2km | 6:29/km. Had planned for an easy 20km. heading out was pretty tough into the wind, but I was listening to Shantaram audio book so I was well entertained. However at 15km in I stopped because my right knee was kind of sore. I had a bit of a stretch and started again. But there was a searing pain in my knee. I had to walk/limp the 5km home. At times it was so excruciating I was almost in tears. Hopefully it was just a one off, I've been icing and anti-inflammatory-ing. I was hoping to go really long come Friday.

Mon; kickboxing: Did this session showcase my weak upper body? Hell, yes.

Slow start

Trust me, I know people have bigger problems. But I thought I'd share. I'm about to go overseas for two months. I am totally planning to run. We hit NYC first, after some research I was just going to go over and buy a new pair of Vibrams because they are significantly cheaper in the US than here and I was really enjoying running in them. They're also tiny and hardly take up any space. Bonus.

However I couldn't finish my Vibram run yesterday because of the pain in both my feet at the midfoot/ball of foot. I was totally fine doing my speed work on the soft grass oval, but running home on the concrete sidewalk had me wincing in pain. So much so, I had to stop. I had a chat to my podiatrist who suggested I see a physio. I don't think it's stress fractures, at a rough guess I'm thinking some sort of tendonitis bought on by the fact that it's pretty squishy in the Vibrams with the Injinji socks.

It seems I can run in my Asics just fine, but I know that once I get tired I start to revert back to heel striking which I'm desperately trying to avoid. I'm wondering if I should go for a more cushioned barefoot style runner like a Newton or the Nike free.

First I should probably work out what's causing the pain...stay tuned. Or not.

Ride: 17:30 | 6.83km | 23.42 km/hr. I got about 10min down the road before I encountered a road closure and huge drops of rain. It was not meant to be a riding day it seems. I got my Max HR when a woman failed to give way and almost hit me.

Wed; run: 19:16 | 3.24km | 5m47s/km. I ran to the oval and then did a speed session of 6x 1min efforts 45sec rest. I wore the Vibrams + socks there and took the socks off at the oval. No issues running on the soft surface at all, yes it was a tough session, but no foot pain. I couldn't run all of the way home, too much midfoot & under toe pain. So I did a walk of shame home.

Ice ice baby

My calves came good on Sunday, but due to time constraints I missed going for a run. Come Monday morning the Man is running super late so we have to run for the train. And *ping* something goes in my left calf. A pulled muscle, most likely. I pulled up very limp. I've laid off the running (cycling seems to be fine) and iced and iced and iced throughout yesterday and today. Fingers crossed I can have a fair crack at tomorrow's 10km Australia Day run.

Sat; swim: 12m | 500m | 2m24s/100m. Another slow open water swim
Commute: 1:15 | 20.6km | 16.48 km/hr

Back in the saddle

Busy week this one. I've been back on the Gazelle and loving it. So awesome not relying on public transport plus we've had some very pleasant cycling weather. That said the Gazelle is well and truly in need of a service. Must get onto that...

Took my Vibrams for a run/walk last night. I felt great running on grass or the slightly softer track at Albert Park, but was a little tentative on the pavement. I opted not to run the whole 8 or so km to my parents place. Instead my Dad was coerced into picking me up half way. While my legs could have kept going, I could feel blisters forming under my big toe. Definitely using some body glide next time. Good thing for the blisters really, because I'm not sure I should have done that much, I can certainly feel my calves today.

Just as well I had a massage booked. There was certainly a whole lot of tightness in my back, and when my calves were worked on they were just as painful. I'm hoping to come good for the weekend, because I know tomorrow I'll be feeling the brunt of the massage.

Tuesday full commute: 1:15 | 20.6km | 16.48 km/hr
Wednesday & Thursday one way commute: 1:15 | 20.6km | 16.48 km/hr
Wednesday run: 35:45 | 4.7km | 07m 37s/km. I actually had a chance to manually hit the lap button and saw some kms around the 6:12 mark.

The weekend + monday

We had one of those perfect weekends, a good mix of activity, friends, down time and of course some awesome weather.

It started with Saturday morning. I headed out on the bike for a spin in the undulations of Mt Martha. Initially thinking it was a disaster when I confirmed what I've suspected for a few days, I've aggravated an old back injury. I'm having trouble sitting for lengthy periods of time and struggling to bend over. Hello anti-inflams! At first the position on the bike wasn't helping and I was pretty uncomfortable but I warmed up and felt okay for the rest of the ride.

Sunday saw us up early to support our friend running the 28km of the Two Bays Bay Trail Run. If I don't run this next year I'm definitely volunteering! The atmosphere was so friendly. We made signs, I totally stole the "You look hot when you sweat" from Great Race Signs. We got heaps of grunts and some smiles, I think some of the runners appreciated the cheering. At least I hope. These guys and girls were totally inspiring.

Because I didn't run yesterday I ran home today. Quietly happy with my time. And I got a massage appointment booked in for Thursday. Productive day.

Saturday ride: 1:22:00 | 34.7km | 25.39 km/hr
Run: 1:02:20 | 9.87km | 06m 19s/km